The name of the Ministry of Science and Technology has been changed to the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The name change, according to Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, is likely to result in a transformation in research and development that is driven by industry and service need.
Onu said;
This development will help us bring about a shift in Research and Development (R&D) that is industry and services’ demand-driven, resulting in rapid commercialization and ultimately improved global competitiveness ranking of Nigeria.
It was also learned that the new name will be gazetted in order to provide legal and regulatory frameworks as a backup for institutional and organizational structures, as well as effective coordination of the country’s National Science and Innovation.
He added;
When we succeed in achieving this, it will lead us to R &D breakthroughs and inventions that are commercialisable. With the right policy and legal framework to protect intellectual property right, we can effectively promote commercialization in all activity sectors in the value chain for supply of raw materials, goods and services.
He expressed hope that Nigeria would achieve significant poverty alleviation through irreversible indigenous industrialization, an adequate platform for higher productivity, improvements in value-added components of the economy, and job creation, and concluded by saying that this would be a major push toward achieving Muhammadu Buhari’s administration’s goal of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty.
